Integrating two-dimensional barcodes and embedded links with call center operation

ABSTRACT

In various embodiments, advertising campaigns can be defined that incorporate technologies such as two-dimensional bar codes or embedded links in electronic material, for directing a user to communicate with a call center. For instance, in particular embodiments, the reading of a two-dimensional bar code by a user with a smart phone may cause various forms of communication requesting a return communication. The communication from the smart phone may be sent to, and received at, the call center, where a calling campaign associated with an advertising campaign is identified using information associated with the communication. A responding communication may be initiated from the call center to the user.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/957,094, entitled “Integrating Two-Dimensional Barcodes and EmbeddedLinks with Call Center Operation,” filed on Aug. 1, 2013, which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/461,515, now U.S.Pat. No. 8,526,922 and entitled “Integrating Two-Dimensional Barcodesand Embedded Links with Call Center Operation,” filed on May 1, 2012,the contents of which are incorporated by reference for all that theyteach, and this application is related to U.S. patent application Ser.No. 13/461,513, filed on May 1, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,548,133 andentitled “Managing Electronic Consent for Calling Campaigns,” and U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/461,541, filed on May 1, 2012, entitled“Using Quick Response Codes to Generate An Electronic Consent Database,”the contents of which are incorporated by reference for all that theyteach.

BACKGROUND

Advertisers are always seeking new ways to use a variety of media andadvertising technologies to drive contact from potential customers. Onesuch technique is to incorporate developed technologies which may affordgreater convenience and may appeal to younger consumers. For instance,electronic communication technologies may allow a consumer ofadvertising to choose whether to easily interact with advertisingencountered by the consumer.

One such developed technology is two-dimensional barcodes (“2D barcode”)used in conjunction with mobile applications in mobile processingdevices, such as smart phones, equipped with digital cameras. Thedigital camera is used to “read” the 2D barcode and perform an actionbased on data encoded into the barcode. For example, users can use theirsmart phone to read a 2D barcode displayed on a product's packaging orin an advertisement for the product found in a magazine to receivefurther information about the product.

Another developed technology to drive contact from potential customersis links (e.g., hyperlinks) embedded in electronic reading material suchas digital books and periodicals (e.g., magazines), for example. Forinstance, many devices, such as e-books, smart phones, tablets, andpersonal computers used to display electronic reading material areconfigured to communicate over channels such as Wi-Fi and/or cellularnetworks. Hyperlinks may be embedded in electronic reading material thatmay perform an action such as linking to a website, sound, video, oradditional reading media over such communication channels in order toenhance the enjoyment of the reader. For example, an electronicperiodical may have a review of a new music album that has been releasedthat includes links to one or more sound bite files of the songs foundon the album. As a result, a reader of the review can click on a linkfor a particular song to listen to the sound bite of the song.

While use of 2D barcodes and links is often used for linking to websites or other electronic media, the use of such technologies can alsofurnish other capabilities that provide a more personalized response forinformation requests that involve, for example, accessing a call center.The use of such technologies can be effective in allowing a consumer ofadvertising to respond immediately to an advertisement and receiveinformation, for a variety of purposes. It is with respect to these andother considerations that the disclosure herein is presented.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Technologies are generally presented herein pertaining to integrating 2Dbarcode usage with call center operation. This frequently involvesproducing and distributing an advertisement for a product or servicebearing a 2D barcode that can be read by a user employing acamera-equipped device, such as a smart phone, executing an appropriateapplication. Reading the 2D barcode results in the processing deviceperforming various actions using data encoded in the 2D barcode. Forexample, in particular embodiments, the actions may result in anelectronic communication being sent to a call center that can process arequest from the user for additional information on the product orservice being advertised. The call center can use data in thecommunication to ascertain a calling campaign and respond either in thesame form as the initial electronic communication or in a differentform.

The subject matter disclosed herein may be implemented as acomputer-controlled apparatus, a method, a computing system, or as anarticle of manufacture such as a computer readable storage medium. Theseand various other features will be apparent from the following DetailedDescription and the associated drawings.

This Summary is provided to exemplify concepts at a high level form thatare further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary isnot intended to identify key or essential features of the claimedsubject matter, nor is it intended that this Summary be used to limitthe scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, the claimedsubject matter is not limited to implementations that address any or alldisadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are notnecessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of a call center architecture illustratingthe various technologies disclosed herein;

FIG. 2 shows one embodiment of an architecture involving a publisher anda call center in communication and illustrating the various technologiesdisclosed herein;

FIG. 3A shows one embodiment of a QR code encoded to send a text messagerequesting product information;

FIG. 3B shows one embodiment of a QR code used in an advertisement for aservice;

FIG. 3C shows one embodiment of a link used in an advertisementappearing in an electronic reading material;

FIGS. 4A-4G show various embodiments of using developed technologies forcontacting a call center;

FIG. 5 shows one embodiment of a message flow that involves sending aSMS message from a smart phone to a call center and receiving a returncall from the call center;

FIG. 6 shows one embodiment of a message flow that involves sending amessage from activating a link to a call center and receiving a returncall from the call center;

FIGS. 7A-7B show various embodiments of a call center responding to acommunication generated by a user using a developed technology;

FIG. 8 shows one embodiment of a process flow for a publisher to processa communication generated as a result of a link being activated;

FIG. 9 shows one embodiment of a process flow for a call center toprocess a SMS communication;

FIG. 10 shows another embodiment of a call center responding to a SMScommunication generated by a smart phone reading a QR code;

FIG. 11 shows another embodiment of a process flow for the call centerto process a SMS communication;

FIG. 12 shows one embodiment of relationships between various entitiesinvolved in a campaign utilizing a QR code and a call center;

FIG. 13 shows one embodiment of relationships between various entitiesinvolved in a campaign utilizing a link and a call center; and

FIG. 14 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a processing device used inone embodiment to practice the technologies disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments for practicing the technologies disclosed herein aredescribed more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the technologiesdisclosed are shown. Indeed, the embodiments disclosed herein areprovided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legalrequirements and should not be construed as limiting or precluding otherembodiments applying the teachings and concepts disclosed herein. Likenumbers in the drawings refer to like elements throughout.

Exemplary Call Center Architecture

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of a call center architecture 100illustrating the various technologies disclosed herein. The call centershown in FIG. 1 may process voice calls that are inbound-only,outbound-only, or a combination of both (sometimes referred to as a“blended” call center). Although many aspects of call center operationare disclosed in the context of voice calls, in various embodiments, thecall center may process other forms of communication such as, forexample, facsimiles, emails, text messages, video calls, and chatmessages. Since the call center may handle calls originating from acalling party, or initiated to a called party, the term “party,” withoutany further qualification, refers to a person associated with a callprocessed by the call center, where the call is either received from orplaced to the party. The term “caller,” if used, will generally refer toa party communicating with the call center, but in many cases this usageis exemplary. Thus, use of the term “caller” is not intended to limitthe concepts to only inbound calls or voice calls, unless the contextdictates such.

Depending on the embodiment, inbound voice calls may originate fromcalling parties using a variety of different phone types. For instance,a calling party may originate a call from a conventional analogtelephone 110 b connected to a public switched telephone network(“PSTN”) 115 using an analog plain old telephone service (“POTS”) line116 a. The calls may be routed by the PSTN 115 and may comprise varioustypes of facilities 116 d, including, but not limited to: T1 trunks,SONET based fiber optic networks, ATM networks, etc. Various types ofrouters, switches, bridges, gateways, and other types of equipment maybe involved in the processing of the calls.

Inbound voice calls may also originate from a smart phone device 110 c,such as a smart phone, tablet, or other smart device, which wirelesslycommunicates with a mobile service provider (“MSP”) 112. The voice callsmay be routed to the PSTN 115 using an integrated services digitalnetwork (“ISDN”) interface 116 b or other types of interfaces that arewell known to those skilled in the art. In particular embodiments, theMSP 112 may also route calls as packetized voice, referred to herein asvoice-over-IP (“VoIP”) to an Internet provider 123 b usingInternet-based protocols. For convenience, unless indicated otherwise,the term “trunk” refers to any type of facility 116 c, 116 d, or 116 eproviding voice calls to, or from, the call center, regardless of thetype of protocol or technology used. Specifically, a “trunk” is notlimited to time-division multiplexing (“TDM”) technology.

Inbound voice calls may also originate from a calling party employing aso-called “IP phone,” “VoIP phone,” or “soft phone” 110 a. In oneembodiment, this device may comprise a computing device 105, such as alaptop, computing tablet, or other electronic device, which interfaceswith a headphone/microphone combination, also referred to as a “headset”106. An IP phone may use a digital voice control protocol and mayprocess packetized voice data according to various Internet based voiceprotocols, such as session initiated protocol (“SIP”). The call may beconveyed by other types of Internet providers 123 a, such as a cablecompany providing Internet access services over a coaxial cable facility116 e. Those skilled in the art will recognize that a variety ofprotocols and facilities may be used to convey voice calls.

The term “telephone call” as used herein is generally synonymous with a“voice call” unless indicated otherwise. Further, the term “telephonecall” may encompass a voice call originating from any type of device,such as a soft phone 110 a, conventional telephone, 110 b, a smart phone110 c, or other device known in the art. The term “call” as used hereinmay mean an active instance of two-way communication, an attempt toestablish two-way communication, or a portion of the two-waycommunication. For example, a user at a conventional telephone 110 b candial a telephone call in an attempt to establish two-way communication,and a call can be said to exist even prior to establishment of a two-wayconnection. In another example, a call may be put on hold, and a portionof the call may be referred to as a “call leg” existing between thecaller and certain equipment. A call may comprise a number ofconcatenated call legs, as known to those skilled in the art. In certaincontexts, which will be made explicit, the call may encompasscommunications other than voice, for example, text, email, video chat,facsimile, etc.

In various embodiments, inbound calls from callers to the call centermay be received at an automatic call distributor (“ACD”) 130. Inparticular embodiments, the ACD 130 may be a specialized switch forreceiving and routing inbound calls under various conditions. Further,the ACD 130 may be embodied as a dedicated form of equipment readilyavailable from various manufacturers, or the ACD 130 may be a so-called“soft switch” comprising a suitable programming module executed by aprocessing device to perform the necessary functions. The ACD 130 mayroute an incoming call over call center facilities 165 to an availableagent. Depending on the embodiment, the facilities 165 may be anysuitable technology for conveying the call, including but not limited toa local area network (“LAN”), wide area network (“WAN”), ISDN, orconventional TDM circuits. In addition, the facilities 165 may be thesame or different from the facilities used to transport the call to theACD 130.

In various embodiments, calls may be routed over facilities 165 to anagent for servicing. That is, for example, the party may speak with anagent to receive customer service. The physical area at which the agentsits is often referred to as an agent “position” and these positions areoften grouped into clusters managed by a supervisor, who may monitorcalls and the agents' productivity. An agent typically uses a computingdevice 106 a-160 c, such as a computer, and a voice device 161 a-161 c.The combination of computing device 160 a-160 c and voice device 161a-161 c may be referred to as a “workstation.” Thus, for theseparticular embodiments, the workstation collectively has a datacapability and a voice capability, although separate devices may beused. In some instances, “workstation” may be used in reference toeither the data or voice capability at the agent's position. Forexample, “routing the call to the agent's workstation” means routing acall to one of the voice devices 161 a-161 c at the agent's position.Similarly, “routing the call to the agent” means routing a call to theappropriate equipment at an agent's position.

In particular embodiments, the voice device 161 a-161 c used by an agentmay be a soft phone device exemplified by a headset 161 a connected tothe computer 160 a. The soft phone device may be a virtual telephoneimplemented in part by an application program executing on the computer160 a. Further, the phone may also comprise an Internet Protocol (“IP”)based headset 161 b or a conventional phone 161 c. Use of the term“phone” is intended to encompass all these types of voice devices usedby an agent, unless indicated otherwise.

Agents typically log onto their workstations prior to handling calls.This allows the call center to know which agents are available forhandling calls. In particular embodiments, the ACD 130 may also maintaindata of an agent's skill level that may be used to route a specific callto the agent or group of agents having the same skill level. Inparticular instances, if a suitable agent is not available to handle acall, the ACD 130 may queue the call for the next available agent. Ascan be expected, various algorithms may be employed to process calls inan efficient manner.

In various embodiments, two types of signaling information may beprovided with an inbound call that may be used by the ACD 130 inprocessing the call. The first type of signaling information indicatesthe telephone number dialed by the caller, and is frequently referred toas “DNIS,” derived from the Dialed Number Identification Serviceassociated with this capability. For example, in particular instances, acall center may provide various services, such as sales, customerservice, technical support, etc., each of which may be associated with adifferent telephone number (e.g., multiple toll free “800” numbers). Inthese instances, the ACD 130 may use the DNIS to determine the purposeof the call, and potentially identify a group of agents having theappropriate skill level to handle the call. Thus, in variousembodiments, the ACD 130 may prioritize and route calls to an agentbased on the required skill level. Skills-based routing may be arule-based set of instructions that the ACD 130 uses to handle calls.Depending on the embodiment, skills-based routing may be implemented bythe ACD 130, or by the ACD 130 interacting with a computer-telephoneintegrated (“CTI”) server 145.

In various embodiments, the CTI server 145 may be incorporated in thecall center architecture 100 to control and/or coordinate othercomponents of the architecture 100. Specifically, the CTI server 145 mayinteract with the ACD 130 to coordinate call processing. Thus, inparticular embodiments, the CTI server 145 may control routing of callsfrom the ACD 130 to the various agent workstations and/or may providedata to other components processing the calls. The CTI server 145 mayalso provide call reporting functionality based on data collected duringcalls.

The second type of signaling information that may be provided with aninbound call is the calling telephone number, often referred to asautomatic number identification or “ANI.” In particular embodiments, theACD 130 and/or CTI server 145 may use the ANI of an incoming call toretrieve caller information from a data store 175 and provide the datato an agent's workstation computer 160 a-160 c over facilities 168 alongwith routing the call to the agent's workstation phone 161 a-161 c.Further, in particular embodiments, the ANI may also be used toascertain a party's status (e.g., a “Gold Level” customer warrantingpremium service) and/or to facilitate the ACD 130 routing the call to aselect group of agents. Depending on the embodiment, the data store 175may include one or more databases storing different information such as,for example, records of caller information. Further, the data store 175may be integrated with the CTI server 145, the ACD 130, or segregated asa standalone medium or media.

In various embodiments, the ACD 130 may place a call in a queue if thereare no suitable agents available, and/or it may route the call to aninteractive voice response server (“IVR”) 135 to play voice prompts. Inparticular embodiments, these prompts may be in a menu type structureand the IVR 135 may collect and analyze responses from the party in theform of dual-tone multiple frequency (“DMTF”) tones and/or speech. Inaddition, the IVR 135 may be used to further identify the purpose of thecall, such as, for example, prompting the party to enter accountinformation or otherwise obtain information used to service the call.Further, in particular embodiments, the IVR 135 may interact with othercomponents, such as the CTI server 145 or the data store 175, toretrieve or provide information for processing the call. In otherconfigurations, the IVR 135 may be used to only provide announcements.

Depending on the embodiment, the interaction between the ACD 130, IVR135, CTI server 145, agent computers 160 a-160 c, as well as othercomponents, may involve using a local area network (“LAN”) 170. However,other configurations are possible, such as, but not limited to, using awide area network, wireless network, router, bridge, directpoint-to-point links, etc.

In particular embodiments, when an agent is interacting with a called orcalling party, the agent may use his workstation computer 160 b tofurther interact with other enterprise computing systems, such as, forexample, a customer relationship management (“CRM”) server 140. A CRMserver 140 may be used to integrate information from various enterprisebusiness systems to facilitate the agent servicing the call. Inaddition, the CRM server 140 may provide a variety of applications.

In addition to receiving inbound communications, including, for example,voice calls, emails, text messages, and facsimiles, the call center mayalso originate communications to a called party, referred to herein as“outbound” communications. In some embodiments, a call center may employa dialer 150, such as a predictive dialer, to originate outbound callson behalf of an agent at a rate designed to meet various criteria.Similar to the other components within the call center architecture 100,depending on the embodiment, the dialer 150 may comprise one or moresoftware modules executing on a processing device hardware platform.

In various embodiments, the dialer 150 is typically configured to dial alist of telephone numbers to initiate outbound calls, which can beaccomplished by instructing the ACD 130 to originate the calls. Thus, insome embodiments, the ACD 130 may include functionality for originatingcalls, and if so, this functionality may be referred to as a privateautomatic branch exchange (“PBX” or “PABX”). In other embodiments (notshown), the dialer 150 may directly interface with voice trunks usingfacilities 116 c, 116 d, 116 e to the PSTN 115 and/or Internet providers123 b for originating calls. After the calls are originated, a transferoperation by the ACD 130 may connect the call with an agent, or placethe call in a queue for an available agent. In the latter case,announcements or music may be provided to the party. In variousembodiments, the dialer 150 may make use of one or more algorithms todetermine how and when to dial a list of numbers so as to minimize thelikelihood of a called party being placed in a queue while maintainingtarget agent utilization.

Another server that may be employed in the call center architecture 100is a workforce management (“WFM”) server 155. In various embodiments,this server 155 maintains information to generate agents' schedules toeffectively handle inbound/outbound calls. For instance, in particularembodiments, the WFM server 155 may maintain historical call volumeinformation for call campaigns and may forecast expected call volume topredict the number of agents needed to handle the call volume at adefined service level. The WFM server 155 may then apply informationabout available agents to generate a work roster of agents. In otherwords, the WFM server 155 may schedule agents for their work shiftsaccording to the anticipated needs of the call campaigns.

Finally, in various embodiments, the call center architecture 100 mayinclude one or more other processing devices 156 to perform variousfunctions. For example, in one particular embodiment, the call centerarchitecture 100 includes a processing device 156 to serve as a qualityassurance system that records communications fielded by agents and/orallows managers to monitor communications to ensure these communicationsare being handled correctly.

Although the above components are referred to as a “server,” each may bealso referred to in the art as a “computing device,” “unit” or “system.”A server may incorporate a local data store and/or interface with anexternal data store. Use of the word “server” does not require thecomponent to interact in a client-server arrangement with othercomponents, although that may be the case. Further, the above componentsmay be located remotely from (or co-located with) other components.Furthermore, one or more of the components may be implemented on asingle processing device to perform the functions described herein. Forexample, in various embodiments, one or more functionalities of the ACD130, IVR 135, CRM server 140, CTI server 145, dialer 150 and/or WFMserver 155 may be combined into a single hardware platform executing oneor more software modules. In addition, the call center architecture 100may be provided as a hosted solution, where the call processingfunctionality is provided as a communication service (a so-called“communication-as-a-service” or “CaaS”) to a call center operator. Thus,there is no requirement that the servers identified above actually belocated or controlled by a call center operator.

In addition, depending on the embodiment, the agent positions may beco-located in a single physical call center or multiple physical callcenters. The agents may be remotely located from the other components ofthe call center, and may also be remotely located from each other,sometimes referred to as a “virtual call center.” In particularinstances, a virtual call center may describe a scenario in which agentswork at home, using their own computers and telephones as workstations.In some configurations, a single physical location of the call centermay not be readily identifiable. For instance, this may occur when thecall processing functions are provided as a service in a hosted cloudcomputing environment and the agents positions are in their individualresidences.

Turning now to FIG. 2, a second architecture 200 is shown involving aprovider of electronic reading material in communication with a callcenter (“publisher”). In one embodiment, a publisher is a provider ofinformation to a user on a subscription basis. For instance, thepublisher may be an entity such as Amazon®, Apple®, or Barnes and Noble®that routinely provides electronic versions of books, news print, andperiodicals on electronic device(s) 220 used by various users. Theseusers may be “subscribers” with the publisher and the device(s) 220 maybe proprietary devices specifically configured to be used for electronicreading material provided by the publisher or may be “general use”devices that may have the capability to read such material. For example,the device(s) 220 may be Amazon's® Kindle® devices and/or Barnes andNobles′® Nook® devices configured to specifically read electronicreading material provided by these publishers. In addition, thedevice(s) 220 may be a tablet such as an Apple's® IPad® device and/ordesktop or laptop computer that have functionality in addition toreading electronic reading material provided by a particular publisher.In other embodiments, the device(s) 220 may be a smart phone. Forinstance, users may download an application to their “general use”device(s) 220 that allow them to view and read electronic readingmaterials from publishers such as Amazon® and Barnes and Nobles®.

As shown in FIG. 2, a user's device 220 may communicate with aparticular publisher using different channels according to variousembodiments. For instance, in particular embodiments, a user's device220 may have Internet capabilities and may be able to communicate with apublisher over the Internet 123 b. As one of ordinary skill in the artwill appreciate in light of this disclosure that the device 220 maycommunicate over wired or wireless connections. Thus, a user's device220 may be in communication with one or more components, such as apublisher server 205, located within the publisher's system. Inaddition, in particular embodiments, a user's device 220 may havecapabilities to be able to communicate with the publisher in similarfashion over other channels such as a cellular network. Likewise, auser's device 220 may communicate with a call center (e.g., ACD 130)over similar channels as the devices 110 a, 110 b, 110 c described aboveand such communications may be electronic data and/or voice calls.

Further, in particular embodiments, one or more components in thepublisher's system, such as the publisher server 205, may be incommunication over one or more networks 210 and may retrieve informationfrom a data store 215 in response to a link embedded in an electronicreading material being activated. Similar to the call enter, dependingon the embodiment, the data store 215 may include one or more databasesstoring different information such as, for example, records onsubscribers and/or call centers. Further, the data store 215 may beintegrated with the publisher server 205 or segregated as a standalonemedium or media.

Those skilled in art will recognize FIGS. 1 and 2 represent one possibleconfiguration of each architecture 100, 200, and that variations arepossible with respect to the protocols, facilities, components,technologies, and equipment used. For example, various algorithms andqueuing arrangements may be defined to efficiently process calls. Inother configurations, the ACD 130 may be configured to process not onlyvoice calls, but also other forms of communication, and performcorresponding call processing functions for email, text, chats, orfacsimile calls. Alternatively, a web server (not shown in FIG. 1 or 2)may receive or originate email, chats, and text communications, as wellas interact with other components in the call center and/or publisher.

Quick Response Codes and Links

Quick response (“QR”) codes are one format for two-dimensional barcodes(“2D barcode”) known for encoding information. Typically, acamera-equipped mobile device, such as a smart phone, “reads” the QRbarcode using the digital camera that is controlled by an appropriatemobile application. A number of barcode reader mobile applications canbe downloaded for different devices, including but not limited to theApple iPhone® and Android® based smart phones. There are variousstandard or proprietary forms of two-dimensional barcodes, and forillustrations purposes, the two-dimensional barcode known as a QR codeis used to illustrate the concepts herein since this is a common format.However, depending on the embodiment, other 2D barcodes formats can beused with the technologies disclosed herein. A number of web sites orservice providers can provide 2D barcode generators that can receiveinformation and generate the 2D barcode.

QR codes can indicate an action to be performed by the mobile device anddata to be used in performing that action. Typically, the action anddata are encoded by the spacing of the black and white squares in aunique pattern using defined encoding rules. As a result, differentformats of QR codes can be used to encode various amount of information,with different capabilities. The actions that may be invoked by the QRcode include, for example: providing contact information, defining acalendar event, indicating an email address, indicating a telephonenumber to dial, providing geo-location information to an application,sending a SMS message, displaying text, logging onto to a Wi-Fi network,and invoking an application, such as Skype® that can initiate a VoIPcall.

In particular embodiments, the mobile application may be designed sothat user input is required before completing the action that operatesusing the data. For example, the QR code can load data for initiating atelephone call or an SMS message, and the mobile application can requestthe user to confirm the action before performing the action. Dependingon the embodiment, such a configuration may be preferred as opposed toautomatically originating the phone call or sending the SMS messagewithout requiring confirmation.

Further, in particular embodiments, when a QR code is read for sendingan SMS message, the QR code conveys the destination address (e.g.,including but not limited to a telephone number) that is to be usedand/or pre-populates the contents of the text portion of the SMSmessage. Thus, in these particular embodiments, the user does not needto enter this information, and such capability may avoid the user frommistyping or incorrectly completing such information.

FIG. 3A illustrates a QR code 300 according to one embodiment. Becauseeach QR code 300 is typically designed to encode data in a pattern, thepattern may vary based on the encoding mode and data. For example, oneformat allows up to 7,089 characters to be encoded, while another formatallows 2,953 bytes to be encoded. The embodiment of the QR code 300illustrated in FIG. 3A encodes a destination address in the form of atelephone number 305, which in this case is 404 851-1331. The QR code300 also encodes a text message 310 for the body of the SMS message,which reads “[p]lease call me back as soon as possible to tell me moreinformation about the new Widget product.” Thus for this embodiment,upon reading the QR code using a smart phone, a pre-populated textmessage addressed to the destination address with the contents indicatedtherein is presented to the user, along with a prompt for confirmationfor sending the message. In other embodiments, the message can beimmediately sent.

FIG. 3B illustrates one embodiment for presenting a QR code 300.Specifically, FIG. 3B illustrates a QR code 300 presented in anadvertisement 350 that may be in a variety of media forms, such as, forinstance, a mailer, newspaper, magazine, or billboard. However, in otherembodiments, the QR code 300 may be presented on a card, badge, or otherhandbill. Further, in particular embodiments, the QR code 300 may bepresented using a display, such as on a video-billboard, televisioncommercial, or computer display, or the QR code 300 may even bepresented on a clothing article, such as a T-shirt.

Depending on the embodiment, the structure of the advertisement 350 mayinclude a tag line 355 informing the reader that further information maybe obtained by reading the QR code 300. However, as QR codes arebecoming more popular, it may not be necessary to inform the reader thatfurther information may be obtained by reading the QR code 300, as theuser base may come to expect this. The tag line 325 may indicate whatbenefits may be realized by reading the QR code 300. In addition, thetag line 325 may include an incentive to motivate the reader to read theQR code 300. For example, the incentive may be, for example, a discount,prize, free accessory, promotional materials, trial, coupon, or anyother conventional marketing incentive.

As noted above, in one embodiment, reading a QR code 300 may merelycause a text message to be displayed on the device without originatingan electronic communication from the device. However, in otherembodiments, a data communication or voice communication may beinitiated. For example, reading the QR code 300 may result in a web pagebeing accessed, a SMS message being sent, or a phone call beinginitiated.

Further, a user may be hesitant to read the QR code 300 because doing somay result in data usage or other charges to be incurred by the user.That is, even if the user has a tiered data plan, data usage mayeventually result in increased data charges. Consequently, in particularembodiments, the provider of the advertisement (or the goods orservices) may arrange for payment of the data charges associated withthe data transfer to encourage the user to read the QR code 300 andfollow through on the action. This can be done in a variety of ways,which are evident to those skilled in the art of wireless data transferbilling. For example, some carriers have announced mechanisms to allow athird party mobile application developer to pay for data transfercharges on behalf of a wireless subscriber as a means for encouragingthe subscriber to access a particular web site. In other embodiments,the recipient of the SMS message (which often may be the call center)sent from the smart phone may be charged for the SMS message.Accordingly, various approaches are possible for ensuring the user isnot charged for the SMS message.

Turning now to FIG. 3C, this figure provides an embodiment of using alink in electronic reading material to cause an action to occur similarto the actions described above with respect to QR codes 300 illustratedin the advertisement. In this particular embodiment, the electronicreading material may be a periodical, such as a magazine, downloaded toa subscriber's viewing device 220. In this example, the content of theperiodical contains an advertisement 360 for “Best Price Realtors.” Theadvertisement 360 informs the reader (e.g., subscriber) to “[j]ust ringthe doorbell and an agent will be right with you!” In this instance, thedoorbell is a link 365 found on the advertisement that may be selectedby the reader to activate an action associated with the link. Forexample, similar to the QR codes 300 described above, the action mayresult in the initiation of some type of data and/or voicecommunication. Furthermore, in particular embodiments, the advertisement360 may gather additional information from the reader such as atelephone number 370 the reader may be contacted at. As one of ordinaryskill in the art can envision, similar to QR codes 300, the provider ofthe advertisement 360 (or the goods or services) may arrange for paymentof the data charges associated with the communication (e.g., datatransfer) to encourage the reader to select the link 365 and followthrough on the action.

Various Communications Approaches

Depending on the embodiment, the actions performed and the data used inconjunction with a QR code or link may vary as a result of reading theQR code or activating the link. In general, any of the actions that maybe initiated by a QR code could also be associated with a link. Thefollowing embodiments illustrate various approaches that can occur, butare not intended to be exhaustive, as those skilled in the art willrecognize that variations are possible. The process flow that a codereader in a mobile device and/or a reading device performs can beprogrammed in various ways, some of which are identified.

FIGS. 4A-4G show various embodiments of using a QR code or link withinelectronic reading material for contacting a call center. Turning toFIG. 4A first, a simplified diagram 400 is provided that shows some ofthe messages and processes that occur in and between a smart phone 110 cand a call center 470 according to one embodiment. The call center 470is diagrammatically illustrated using an icon.

The process begins in operation 402 when the user operates the smartphone to read a particular QR code. In some embodiments, this may occurbased on the user viewing an advertisement which bears the QR code, andprovides an incentive for the user to read the code. As a result ofreading the code, the mobile phone is configured to originate a voicecall to an indicated telephone number. In this particular embodiment,assuming the user's consent is requested and received in operation 404,the smart phone 110 c originates the voice call as represented bymessaging 406. For instance, the establishment of the voice call may bea telephone call using the appropriate wireless protocol for the smartphone (e.g., CDMA, GSM, etc.) While in other embodiments, the call maybe a voice call initiated by a VoIP application, such as Skype®. In thisparticular example, the voice call setup messaging 406 is based on usingthe originating telephone number (“TN”) of the mobile phone and thedestination TN, which was provided by reading the QR code, and the callis set up to a call center.

In particular embodiments, additional information may be provided withthe voice call setup messaging 406. For example, in some embodiments,user-to-user signaling allows user defined data (user-to-userinformation or “UUI”) to be conveyed along with a call setup or duringthe call. Various wireless and wireline signaling protocols allow alimited amount of UUI to be transferred along with the establishment ofthe call. Depending on the embodiment, this information may be encodedin the QR code and populated by the QR code mobile application readerduring call setup and/or may be provided by the user in response toprompts by the QR code mobile application reader. The user may notalways know that UUI is being transferred along with the callestablishment.

In operation 410, the call center determines the appropriate callingcampaign after receiving the call. For instance, in particularembodiments, the call center may be receiving inbound calls for avariety of campaigns, and hence it is necessary for the call center todistinguish which campaign a particular received call is involved with.For example, in one embodiment, an initial screen display on theanswering agent's workstation may be populated according to the type ofcampaign associated with the call and the initial screen display mayprovide the agent with scripts, product information, advertisingcampaign context, etc. for the type of calling campaign.

According to various embodiments, the call center may determine thecalling campaign in different ways. For instance, the call center mayidentify the campaign based on the called telephone number (a.k.a.called number or destination telephone number). In these particularembodiments, the call is delivered with a called telephone number and byassigning a unique called telephone number for each campaign the callcenter uses the called telephone number to identify the appropriatecampaign before the call is answered by the agent. Depending on theembodiment, the called telephone number may be a direct inward dial(“DID”) telephone number in a NPA-NXX-XXXX (format or a toll freenumber. In some instances, the called telephone number may also bereferred to as “DNIS” (dialed number information service). In otherembodiments, the call center may determine the campaign by using otherinformation such as the UUI, which may be included in the call setup.For instance, the UUI may include a context code, advertising code,and/or other information that is uniquely associated with the campaign.Thus, depending on the particular embodiment, the call center maydetermine the campaign based on the called telephone number, the UUI,and/or other information conveyed along with or during the call. Oncethe campaign has been identified and an appropriate agent is selected toreceive the call, the voice call is established using messaging 412. Asa result, the call center agent is now engaged in a voice call with theuser.

FIG. 4B illustrates another simplified diagram 420 according to anotherembodiment, however this time the process involves one or more SMSmessages. In FIG. 4B, the process begins with the user reading the QRcode in operation 402. In this particular embodiment, reading the QRcode causes the mobile phone to formulate a SMS message to a destinationaddress with the message text portion pre-populated. Once the user hasauthorized the SMS messaging in operation 414, the SMS messaging 418 istransmitted to the call center.

The SMS messaging 418 may comprise the originating address (which may bein the form of a TN or a short code), the destination address (which maybe in the form of a TN), and/or the message text. In particularinstances, the content of the message text may be altered by the userprior to sending the SMS message, but in many instances, the user ispresumed to send the message text in an unaltered form.

In operation 410, the call center 470 determines which campaign the SMSmessage is associated with. In particular embodiments, the call center470 may accomplish this task by examining the destination TN, which maybe uniquely associated with the campaign. In other embodiments, the callcenter 470 may accomplish this task by examining the message textcontent, which may uniquely identify the campaign. For the example, thecall center 470 may use the text syntax, the presence of a context code,and/or other identifier to identify the campaign. It should be notedthat if the message text content identifies the campaign, then the samedestination TN can be used for other campaigns in some embodiments.

Once the call center 470 has identified the campaign, the call center470 may respond with SMS response messaging 422. The response message422 may confirm receipt, provide the requested information, and/orprovide a time for scheduling a voice call back from the call center470, etc. For example, the SMS response message 422 may request whetherthe user desired an immediate voice call back from an agent.

FIG. 4C illustrates another simplified diagram 430 according to anotherembodiment, however this time the process involves one or more SMSmessages that result in a voice call established between the user andthe call center 470. The process begins with operation 402 with the userreading the QR code. For this particular embodiment, the QR code causesa SMS message to be populated with message text and a destination TNencoded by the QR code. In operation 414, the user authorizes thesending of the SMS message that leads to the SMS messaging 432. In thisparticular instance, the SMS message includes the originating TN, thedestination TN, and the message text. Further, in this particularinstance, the message text requests a voice call back from the callcenter.

In operation 410, similar to the processes already described, the callcenter 470 determines the campaign, for example, by examining thedestination address and/or the message text content. Once the callcenter 470 determines the appropriate campaign, the call center 470selects an agent and a voice call is setup in messaging 434 to the smartphone 110 c. Presuming the user answers, then a voice call isestablished in messaging 436.

In this particular embodiment, the request for information in a firstformat, e.g., a text message, results in a follow up communication in asecond format, e.g., a voice call. Such an embodiment allows the user tohave the convenience of personalized contact with an agent and allowsfor a more rapid and flexible exchange of information.

FIG. 4D illustrates yet another simplified diagram 440 of anotherembodiment, however this time the process involves one or more emailmessages that result in an email response from the call center. Theprocess begins with operation 402 with the user reading the QR code andthe QR code causing an email message to be populated with message textand a destination address encoded by the QR code. In operation 442, theuser authorizes the sending of the email message that leads to the emailmessaging 444. In this particular instance, the email message includesthe originating address, the destination address, and the message text.Further, in this particular instance, the message text may or may notrequest an email response.

In operation 410, the call center 470 determines the campaign, forexample, by examining the destination address and/or the message text.Once the call center 470 determines the appropriate campaign, an emailmessage is initiated in messaging 446 to the smart phone 110 c.

In this particular embodiment, the request for information in a firstformat, e.g., an email message, results in a follow up communication inthe same format. In other embodiments, however, the user could includehis or her telephone number in the email message so as to have a voicecall returned from the call center 470. Such a configuration allows theuser to have the convenience of personalized contact with an agent andallows for a more rapid and flexible exchange of information.

FIG. 4E illustrates yet another simplified diagram 450 according toanother embodiment, however this time the process involves accessing aweb site that results in a voice call from the call center 470. Theprocess begins with operation 402 with the user reading the QR code. TheQR code causes a URL or other web address to be accessed in operation452 and results in HTML based web pages being downloaded from the callcenter 470 to the smart phone 110 c, in operation 454.

As a result, the user may access one or more of the web pages to requesta voice call in messaging 456. In some instances, this may require theuser to provide a telephone number and explicitly request the call back.In operation 410, the call center 470 determines the campaign, forexample, by examining the accessed web address and/or informationselected from one or more web pages. Once the call center 470 determinesthe appropriate campaign, the call center 470 then selects an agent andvoice call setup messaging 434 is sent to the smart phone 110 c. Inmessaging 436, the voice call between the user and the agent isestablished.

FIG. 4F illustrates yet another simplified diagram 460 according toanother embodiment, however this time the process involves displaying atext message to the user to prompt the user to initiate a call to a callcenter. In particular instances, the text message may also includeinstructions, for example, for entering a code or other informationallowing the call center 470 to identify a context for thecommunication.

The process begins with operation 402 with the user reading the QR codethat causes a text message to be displayed on the smart phone's display462. The message can be, for example, instructions to call a toll freenumber and potentially enter information as requested. In messaging 464,the call is initiated to the destination TN indicated in the text.

Once the call center 470 determines the appropriate campaign inoperation 410, the call center 470 then selects an agent and a voicecall is established in messaging 436 with the smart phone 110 c. In thisembodiment, the establishment of the voice call is under the directcontrol of the user. Further, in particular instances, the voice callmay be established to an IVR, instead of directly to an agent, and theuser may be prompted to enter a code, or further information. Forexample, if an agent is not available, the IVR may be used to schedule acall back time for the indicated campaign as identified by the user.

FIG. 4G illustrates a simplified diagram 480 according to an embodimentthat utilizes a link embedded in electronic reading material. Aspreviously mentioned, the electronic reading material can be, forexample, a digitized book, news print, or periodical. In this instance,an advertisement is placed in the electronic reading material thatcontains a link that can be selected by the reader. Thus, the processbegins with the reader viewing the advertisement and selecting theembedded link in the advertisement in operation 481.

Similar to QR codes described above, in various embodiments, theselection of the link may cause a number of different actions to occur.In this particular instance, the selection of the link causes messaging482 to occur to the publisher 490 of the electronic reading material.Depending on the embodiment, a screen may first appear on the reader'sdevice 220 prior to the message being sent to the publisher 490. Forinstance, in one embodiment, a screen may appear on the reader's device220 requesting the reader to enter information on his or hersubscription (e.g., account username and/or password) with the publisher490. In another embodiment, the user may be prompted for authorizationfor the publisher 490 to use information about the user. Accordingly,this information may be sent along in the body of the message to thepublisher 490. Further, in particular embodiments, the advertisementwith the embedded link may also request information from the reader thatmay be included in the body of the message. For example, theadvertisement may request a telephone number at which the reader may bereached. Those of ordinary skill in the art can envision several piecesof information that may be included along with the message 482 sent tothe publisher 490 in light of this disclosure.

Upon receiving the messaging 482, the publisher 490 identifies thecampaign associated with the messaging 482 in operation 483. Similar toQR codes, the publisher 490 may identify the campaign in a variety ofdifferent ways according to various embodiments. For instance, inparticular embodiments, the publisher 490 may examine text syntax, thepresence of a context code, and/or other identifiers contained in themessage 482 that uniquely identifies the campaign and/or the reader.Further, in particular embodiments, the publisher 490 may also retrieveinformation to aid in identifying the campaign.

In addition, depending on the embodiment, the publisher 490 may alsoretrieve additional information on the reader not included in themessage. For example, in one embodiment, the publisher may retrievecontact information on the reader based on the reader's accountinformation provided in the message. As a result, the contactinformation may then be forwarded to a call center 470 so that thecontact information may be used by the call center 470 to contact thereader.

Upon identifying the call campaign, the publisher 490 assembles amessage request 484 that is sent in messaging 484 to the call center 470associated with the identified call campaign. In general, the messagerequest 484 is associated with an expected type of response to thereader. For example, in this particular embodiment, the message request484 includes a request for the call center 470 to place a call to thereader to provide additional information and/or assistance with respectto the product or service associated with the advertisement viewed inthe electronic reading material.

In particular embodiments, the publisher 490 may include a number ofdifferent types of information in the message to the call center 470 tohelp the call center 470 contact the reader. For example, the publisher490 may include contact information retrieved for the reader and/orinclude a contact (e.g., telephone number) provided by the reader in themessage sent to the publisher 490.

Upon receiving the message 484, the call center 470 processes themessage request in operation 486. Depending on the embodiment and basedon the information provided in the message request, the call center 470may need to determine the campaign associated with the request. Further,the call center 470 may need to identify additional informationassociated with the call campaign such as, for example, information topopulate a display screen on an agent's workstation that may provide theagent with scripts, product information, advertising campaign context,etc. for the type of campaign.

Typically, in many embodiments, the request message 484 sent by thepublisher 490 will include the information needed to contact the reader.In some embodiments the publisher 490 may store information regardingthe reader (e.g., the reader may be a subscriber of the publisher 490).However, in some instances, the call center 470 may also retrievecontact information associated with the reader based on informationprovided in the request message 484 sent from the publisher 490 to thecall center 470.

Once the call center 470 reads the message request 484 in operation 486the call center 470 selects an appropriate agent and a voice call issetup in messaging 487 to the reader. Depending on the embodiment and/orcircumstances of the reader, the voice call may be placed to thereader's device 220 used to read the electronic reading material or to aseparate device. For example, the user (a.k.a. as an “e-reader” orsimply “reader”) may be using an iPad® to read the electronic readingmaterial which may not have a phone capability. In this instance, thecall center 470 may place the voice call to another device of the user,such as the user's cell phone. In the embodiment show, the device 220 ispresumed to have a phone capability, and a voice call is established inmessaging 488 between the agent and the device 220.

In this particular embodiment, the request for information from the userin a first format, e.g., a text message, results in a follow upcommunication in a second format, e.g., a voice call. Thus, similar tothe QC codes, such an embodiment allows the user to have the convenienceof personalized contact with an agent and allows for a more rapid andflexible exchange of information.

It should be noted that although process diagrams are not provided forother forms of communication using embedded links in electronic readingmaterial, such other forms may be utilized in similar fashions as thoseused with QR codes. For instance, similar to QR codes, activation oflinks embedded in electronic reading material in various embodiments canlead to the call center sending users SMS messages and/or emails, havingusers access a web site that results in voice calls with the callcenter, and/or having text messages prompt users to initiate calls tothe call center. Thus, the modes of communications used by the variousparties (e.g., users, publisher 490, and call center 470) may differdepending on the embodiment.

An illustration of the message flow for one of the above embodimentsinvolving the use of a QR code 510 is shown in FIG. 5. Specifically,FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of a message flow 500 that involves sending aSMS message from a smart phone 110 c to a call center after reading a QRcode 510 and receiving in response a return call from the call center.As shown, an advertisement 505 is distributed in some manner thatdisplays a QR code 510. For purposes of illustration, this could be anadvertisement in a magazine.

The QR code 510 is read by the smart phone 110 c as illustrated bymessaging 501 and the smart phone 110 c originates a SMS message 502 athat is conveyed by a mobile service provider 112. The message 502 a maybe conveyed by the Internet 123 to various SMS infrastructure 520, whichmay involve gateways, servers, data stores, etc. In some embodiments,the infrastructure 520 may involve a gateway that performs reversebilling of the SMS messages. That is, the gateway may record the numberof SMS messages sent to the call center, and bill the call center forthis traffic. In another embodiment, the gateway may convert the digitaltext message from a SMS message 502 a format to an email format, whichis then forwarded to the call center. In converting the digital textmessage to a particular format, the information in the original SMSmessage 502 a is typically retained. For instance, in particularembodiments, the message body, the SMS destination address, and/or theSMS originating address are all retained as part of the contents of theemail message. Thus, the SMS message 502 a can be delivered in wholeusing another format, such as an email format. The email message 502 bmay be forwarded to a messaging server 159 in the call center. At thispoint, the email message 502 b may be considered as sent from the smartphone to the call center.

At the call center, depending on the embodiment, a number of operationsmay occur upon receipt of the message 502 b. These may occur indifferent order. For purposes of illustration, the following order ofevents occurs. First, the messaging server 159 provides a copy of theemail message 502 b to the data store 175 in message 503. In particularinstances, the data store 175 may be a database (or a plurality ofdatabases) that retains a copy for various purposes. For example, a copymay be retained for purposes of recording potential customer contactsand/or a copy may be stored to demonstrate that the user providedelectronic consent for receiving a subsequent telemarketing orientedcommunication. The electronic consent infrastructure may be that asdisclosed in the above referenced patent applications.

Next, the messaging server 159 informs a dialer 150 that a call backshould be scheduled or should occur as soon as possible to the user inmessaging 504. Depending on the embodiment, the dialer 150 may employvarious dialing techniques, and may be a fully automated process, or maybe a manual, or semi-manual process, and involve an agent. In thisparticular embodiment, an agent is involved in the call back.

The dialer 150 identifies the calling campaign based on the receivedemail message 502 b and retrieves information associated with thecalling campaign. Depending on the embodiment, this information mayinclude agent instructions, advertising related product data, etc.Further, the contents of the received email message 502 b may bedisplayed to the agent prior to call back origination. Doing so mayallow the agent to readily determine if the user had altered the text ofthe pre-populated message body. For example, if the message bodyindicates “Please call me about your new line up of 2012 hybrid cars”,the user may have edited the text to state, for instance, “Please callme about your new line up of 2012 hybrid cars—especially the SUV model.”An indication of any altered text can be highlighted or otherwiseindicated by the call center systems to the agent. This allows the agentto easily identify any customized user requests.

Consequently, the dialer 150 establishes a call leg using messaging 505b with a selected agent's workstation 160 a, 161 a. Contemporaneously(but not necessarily simultaneously), the dialer 150 may establish acall leg to the user in messaging 505 a. Assuming that the user answers,the dialer 150 bridges, joins, conferences or otherwise causes the twocall legs to be connected. Thus, the agent is connected via a voice callto the user. In some embodiments, the dialer 150 may report 506 thesuccessful status of the call to the messaging server 159, and/or to thedata store 175. As noted previously, this voice call could be a VoIPtype of voice call.

Similarly, a more detailed message flow for one of the above embodimentsinvolving the use of an embedded link in electronic reading material isshown in FIG. 6. Specifically, FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of a messageflow 600 that involves sending a message from a reading device 220 to apublisher server 205, and subsequently a call center after activating alink 610 embedded in electronic reading material, and receiving inresponse a return call 605 a from the call center. Specifically, anadvertisement 601 containing an embedded link 610 is placed inelectronic reading material, such as an issue of a magazine, and thematerial is made available by the publisher to its subscribers. Aparticular subscriber selects the particular issue of the magazine byoperating the device 220, downloads the issue to his or her readingdevice 220, and begins to view the issue on the device 220.

During the viewing of the issue of the magazine, the advertisement 601is encountered and the subscriber selects the link 610 embedded in theadvertisement 601 to request a call from a call center agent to receiveadditional information on the product being promoted in theadvertisement 601. As a result, the reading device 220 originates amessage 602 a that is conveyed over the Internet 123 to the publisher'ssystem 205. The message may be in various forms, including textmessages, email, facsimile, etc. The publisher's system 205 may comprisea series of gateways, servers, data stores, and in some embodiments, thesystem 205 may involve a gateway (not shown) that performs reversebilling of messages sent to the publisher and/or the call center. Thatis, the gateway may record the number of messages sent to the publisherand/or the call center from various users, and bill the call center forthis traffic. Depending on the embodiment, the gateway may convert thedigital message 602 a received as a result of the activation of the link610 into a different format to send to the call center, such as to a SMSmessage format and/or an email format. In this manner, the user of thedevice 220 does not have to pay messages charges for responding to theadvertisement links.

Similar to the QR code process described above, when converting themessage 602 a to a particular format, the information in the originalmessage 602 a may be retained in various embodiments. For instance, inparticular embodiments, the message body received from the subscriber'sdevice 220 is retained as part of the contents of the SMS or emailmessage 602 b. Although, in a number of embodiments, additionalinformation, such as contact information for a communication deviceand/or email address for the subscriber, may be added to the contents ofthe SMS or email message 602 b. In other embodiments, the publisher 205may add information about the subscriber based on subscriber recordsmaintained by the publisher server 205. Thus, the original message 602 acan be delivered in whole using another format, such as a SMS or emailformat. The SMS or email message 602 b may be forwarded to a messagingserver 159 in the call center. At this point, the SMS or email message602 b may be considered as sent from a device 220 of the subscriberdirectly to the call center. That is, in particular embodiments, the SMSor email message 602 b received by the call center is treated in asimilar fashion as other communications typically received by the callcenter.

At the call center, depending on the embodiment, a number of operationsmay occur and these may occur in different order than disclosed herein.However, for purposes of illustration, the following order of eventsoccurs similar to the events described above with respect to originatingmessages from reading a QR code. First, the messaging server 159provides a copy of the SMS or email message 602 b to the data store 175in message 603. In particular instances, the data store 175 may be adatabase (or a plurality of databases) that retains a copy for variouspurposes. For example, a copy may be retained for purposes of recordingpotential customer contacts and/or a copy may be stored to demonstratethat the user provided electronic consent for receiving a subsequenttelemarketing oriented communication.

Next, the messaging server 159 informs a dialer 150 that a call backshould be scheduled or should occur as soon as possible to thesubscriber on the device identified in the message 602 b in messaging604. This could be the device 220 or another device (such as a smartphone or wireline phone) associated with the user. Depending on theembodiment, the dialer 150 may employ various dialing techniques, andmay be a fully automated process, or may in whole or in part a manualprocess, and involve an agent. In this particular embodiment, an agentis involved in the call back.

The dialer 150 identifies the calling campaign based on the received SMSor email message 602 b and retrieves information associated with thecalling campaign. Depending on the embodiment, this information mayinclude agent instructions, advertising related product data, etc.Further, the contents of the received message 602 b may be displayed tothe agent. Doing so may allow the agent to readily determine if the userhad altered the text of a pre-populated message body.

Consequently, the dialer 150 establishes a call leg using messaging 605b with a selected agent's workstation 160 a, 161 a. Contemporaneously(but not necessarily simultaneously), the dialer 150 may establish acall leg to the subscriber in messaging 605 a. Assuming that thesubscriber answers, the dialer 150 bridges, joins, conferences orotherwise causes the two call legs to be connected. Thus, the agent isconnected via a voice call to the subscriber. In some embodiments, thedialer 150 may report 606 the successful status of the call to themessaging server 159, and/or to the data store 175.

FIG. 7A expands on a variation of the messaging shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.FIG. 7A shows one embodiment 700 of a call center responding to a SMScommunication generated by a smart phone 110 c reading a QR code 510 ora subscriber activating a link embedded 610 in electronic readingmaterial, and illustrates additional processing that may occur in thepublisher 490 and the call center 470. FIG. 7A abstracts the publisher490 and call center 470 using icons, and those skilled in the art willbe able to map this to further detail in conjunction using FIGS. 1 and 2or other publisher and call center architectures.

In FIG. 7A, the process begins with the smart phone 110 c reading theadvertisement 505 with the QR code 510 as depicted by operation 501 orthe subscriber activating the link 610 embedded in an advertisement 601in the electronic reading material on a reading device 220. As a result,a SMS message in operation 702 is sent to the call center 470 or anindicator message 704 is sent to the publisher 490 of the electronicreading material.

In the case of the indicator message being sent to the publisher 490, aprogram module 750 comprising instructions executed by a processoranalyzes the indicator message. From the analysis, the program module750 first determines the subscriber who has activated the link 610.Depending on the embodiment, the program module 750 may carry out thistask by analyzing information contained within the message body of theindicator message. Furthermore, the program module 750 may retrieveadditional information about the subscriber from a subscriberinformation database 735. For example, in particular embodiments, theprogram module may query the subscriber information database 735 toretrieve contact information for the subscriber to pass along to thecall center 470.

Further, in particular embodiments, the program module 750 determinesthe call campaign associated with the indicator message. Similar toascertaining the subscriber, the program module 750 may ascertain thecampaign by analyzing information contained within the message body ofthe indicator message. For instance, in one embodiment, the message bodycontains a campaign identifier that the program module 750 uses to querya call campaign information database 740. The information retrieved fromthe call campaign information database 740 may contain a number ofdifferent information related to the associated campaign.

For example, the information stored in the call campaign informationdatabase 740 may inform the publisher 490 which call center 470 shouldbe notified of the subscriber's actions. There may be a plurality ofcall centers 470 (only a single call center is shown in FIG. 7A) locatedin various time zones or regions, and based on the origination of theinitial indicator message 704 (or other factors), the publisher 490 mayselect one particular call center to send the notification 705 to. Theremay be a plurality of advertisements 505 or 601 that the publisher 490may direct to various call centers 470 based on the advertising content.If the advertisement was for a particular brand of automobile, then theautomobile manufacturer may require any call backs occur from aparticular call center, e.g., a corporate owned call center.

The notification message 705 may involve an application programminginterface to the call processing computers in the call centers. Thus,the computer processing devices in the publisher 490 may be closedcoupled with the computer processing devices in the call center 470.

In various embodiments, once the program module 750 has identified thesubscriber and the associated call campaign, the program module 750constructs and sends a notification message in operation 705 to theappropriate call center 470. Depending on the embodiment, thenotification message may take on a number of different formats such as,for example, SMS message or email format. As a result, the call center470 in various embodiments can treat the notification message like anyother type of inbound communication that the call center 470 normallyreceives. Thus, in this particular instance, the program module 750constructs the notification message as a SMS message and sends the SMSmessage to the call center 470.

Once received at the call center, a program module 730 comprisinginstructions executed by a processor within the call center analyzes theSMS message. For instance, in particular embodiments, the program module730 may analyze the SMS message to ascertain the campaign associatedwith the SMS message. For example, in one embodiment, the program module730 may ascertain the campaign by mapping a destination address found inthe body of the SMS message with a campaign and/or by determining acampaign identifier in a look up table stored in memory. The programmodule 730 may also determine a set of agents that are trained for thatcampaign, and select one of the agents that is available to conduct thecall back call. This is indicated by operation 703 in which theappropriate agent is notified of the number to call back.

Contemporaneously, in various embodiments, the call center 470 mayrecord the incoming SMS message in a contact information database 725.The database 725 may be owned and operated by the call center 470, ormay controlled by a third party. This data may be used, for example, tobuild a list of potential customers, analyze campaign effectiveness,etc. Another database that may also be utilized during the process 700is a call back queue 720, which represents the list of users that are toreceive a call back.

Unlike other types of call backs, the priority of initiating a call backmay vary based on the initial form of contact from the user. Forexample, SMS messaging implies a certain level of urgency based on itsreal-time nature. Thus, an incoming communication originating from auser reading a QR code 510 or subscriber activating an embedded link 610that results in an SMS message may be provided the highest (or a higherpriority) in the call back queue 720 relative to other call backsindicated in the queue 720. In contrast, an incoming communication thatis an email message may not imply the same level of urgency and may beprovided a lower priority in the call back queue 720 relative to a SMSmessage. However, in other embodiments, an email message and SMS messagemay be given the same priority. Finally, once the SMS message reachesthe proper position in the queue 720, the selected agent calls back theuser or subscriber in operation 706.

It is possible that various teams of agents will be allocated to aparticular queue for performing call backs, where an advertisingcampaign is associated with a particular team of agents. Thus, agentsskilled or knowledgeable about a particular product (as featured in anadvertisement) may be selected for performing the callback.

FIG. 7B illustrates a variation that can occur, based on FIG. 7A. FIG.7B involves the smart phone 110 c reading an advertisement 505 with a QRcode 510 in operation 501 or the subscriber activating the embedded link610 in an advertisement 601 in the electronic reading material on areading device 220. If the link 610 has been activated, an indicatormessage 704 is sent to the publisher 490 where it is processed.Furthermore, as a result of either action (reading the QR code 510 oractivating the embedded link 610), an initial SMS message is inoperation 702 or operation 705 is sent to the call center 470 wherein itis processed. The call loaded into the call back queue 720, and thecontact information database 725 are updated as appropriate. Then thecall back occurs in the voice call back 706.

However, in this embodiment, the user (e.g., associated with smart phone110 c) or subscriber (e.g., associated with device 220) does not answerin the voice call back 706. As a result, the appropriate status isupdated by the call center 470 and the call center 470 originates afollow up SMS message in operation 757. Depending on the circumstances,the follow up or response message can be transmitted as an email insteadof an SMS message to the user or subscriber or can be initiallytransmitted as an email and the email may then be interworked by agateway into a SMS message that is transmitted to the user's orsubscriber's communication device. Thus, as referred to herein, wheneverthe call center 470 sends an SMS message, in particular embodiments,this may include the call center 470 sending a message initially in anemail format that is then converted to an SMS format. Depending on theembodiment, the response message can indicate that a call back wasattempted, and inform the user or subscriber that another call back willbe scheduled later, or that the user or subscriber can call the callcenter 470 at a specified telephone number at the user's or subscriber'sconvenience. In this manner, a missed call may not result in a lostmarketing opportunity. If the call center 470 attempts the voice callback 706 which results in a no answer condition, the call center mayinform the publisher 490 of this, so that the publisher is aware aswell. Alternatively, the contact information database 725 may be sharedwith the publisher, advertiser, product manufacturer, etc. so as toallow them to measure the effectiveness of the advertising campaign.

Exemplary Processing Flow

FIG. 8 illustrates one embodiment of a process flow for the publisher490 to process the indicator message as illustrated above. The processflow operations are numbered based on information that can betransmitted. The logical operations described herein may be implementedas a sequence of computer implemented acts or as one or more programmodules running on a computing system and/or as interconnected machinelogic circuits or circuit modules within a computing system. Theimplementation is a matter of choice dependent on the performance andother requirements of the computing system. Accordingly, the logicaloperations described herein are referred to variously as-statesoperations, structural devices, acts, or modules. These operations,structural devices, acts and modules may be implemented in software, infirmware, in special purpose digital logic, and any combination thereof.Greater or fewer operations may be performed than shown in the figuresand described herein. These operations may also be performed in adifferent order than those described herein.

Turning to FIG. 8, the process 800 begins with operation 805 when anindicator message 704 is sent from the device 220 used by the subscriberto read the electronic reading material to the publisher 490 as a resultof subscriber activating the embedded link 610. Depending on theembodiment, the indicator message 704 may be received directly at aserver at the publisher or relayed from another server to the publisher.In operation 810, the indicator message is analyzed to determine whatsubscriber is associated with the message. Depending on the embodiment,the analysis may involve ascertaining the subscriber by analyzinginformation contained within the message and/or may involve retrievinginformation on the subscriber from one or more data sources. Inoperation 815, the indicator message is further analyzed to determinethe campaign associated with the message. Again, similar to determiningthe subscriber, the analysis may involve ascertaining the campaign byanalyzing information contained within the message and/or may involveretrieving information on the campaign from one or more data sources.

Finally, in operation 820, the process 800 concludes with constructingand sending a notification message to the call center 470. Depending onthe embodiment, the notification message may comprise differentinformation such as, for instance, information on the campaignassociated with the message and/or information on the subscriberassociated with the message. For example, in one embodiment, thecampaign information may include a campaign identifier that the callcenter 470 may use to identify the campaign associated with the message.In addition, in one embodiment, the subscriber information may includethe name of the subscriber and information on how to contact thesubscriber, such as a telephone number and/or email address. Further, aspreviously described, the notification message may take a number ofdifferent formats depending on the embodiment. For example, in variousembodiments, the notification message may take the format of one of aSMS message, email message, or voice call message. In other embodiments,the publisher 490 may use an application program interface to interfacewith various computers in the call center. Once received, the callcenter 470 may then process the notification message and contact thesubscriber in an appropriate manner.

Likewise, FIG. 9 illustrates one embodiment of a process flow for thecall center 470 to process the communication received by the call center470 as illustrated above. Similar to the process flow described abovewith respect to the publisher 490, the process flow operations arenumbered based on information that can be transmitted. The logicaloperations described herein are implemented as a sequence of computerimplemented acts or as one or more program modules running on acomputing system and/or as interconnected machine logic circuits orcircuit modules within a computing system. The implementation is amatter of choice dependent on the performance and other requirements ofthe computing system. Accordingly, the logical operations describedherein are referred to variously as states operations, structuraldevices, acts, or modules. These operations, structural devices, actsand modules may be implemented in software, in firmware, in specialpurpose digital logic, and any combination thereof. Greater or feweroperations may be performed than shown in the figures and describedherein. These operations may also be performed in a different order thanthose described herein.

Turning to FIG. 9, the process 900 begins with operation 905 when acommunication (e.g., SMS message) is sent from either the smart phone110 c to the call center 470 as a result of reading a QR code 510 or thepublisher 490 as a result of a subscriber activating the embedded link610. Depending on the embodiment, the SMS message may be received at amessaging server at the call center or relayed from another server. Inoperation 910, the SMS message is analyzed to determine the campaign itis associated with. Depending on the embodiment, the analysis can beaccomplished by analyzing information such as the called number, thetext contents of the message, or both.

In operation 915, the agent is selected based on the identifiedcampaign. In particular instances, the campaign may require an agentwith appropriate training for handling a call associated with thatcampaign. Contemporaneously, the contact information database 725 inoperation 920 may be updated and the call back queue 720 is updated inoperation 925, followed by the call back involving the selected agentoccurring in operation 930.

If the call is answered in operation 940, then the agent converses withthe user or subscriber. As a result, in particular embodiments, the callcenter 470 will update the contact information database 725 in operation935 with an indication that the call back occurred. In particularembodiments, the agent may indicate a disposition code and/or otherinformation that may be recorded so that a complete record of the callback is maintained. If the call is not answered in operation 940, thenthe contact information database 725 is updated to reflect theunsuccessful attempt in operation 945. As a result, a follow up SMSmessage may be sent in operation 950 in particular embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates another variation of how a communication receivedfrom a smart phone 110 c reading a QR code 510 can be processed by acall center 470. It should be noted that FIG. 10 only displays acommunication originating as a result of a smart phone 110 c reading aQR code 510. However, it should be understood by those of ordinary skillin the art that the process described in FIG. 10 can also involve acommunication originating as a result of a subscriber activating anembedded link 610 in electronic reading material.

Turning to FIG. 10, the process 1000 begins with a smart phone 110 creading the QR code 510 on an advertisement 505 in operation 501 and asa result, an initial SMS message is generated in operation 702 to thecall center 470. Accordingly, the call back queue 720 is updated inoperation 1004 and the contact information database 725 is updated inoperation 1003.

In this particular embodiment, the call center 470 sends back aconfirmation SMS requesting a call back time in operation 1005. The callcenter 470 may trigger this response as a matter of course for thiscampaign. For example, if the call back time would exceed the regulatorytime window for a telemarketing call, the call center 470 may send backthe SMS message in operation 1005 to select a time that is within thecalling window. In another example, the request may require an agentwith particular skills to be involved in the call back (e.g., certainlanguage skills) that may not be immediately available. Depending on theembodiment, a number of different conditions may prohibit an immediatecall back that may trigger this message. The message could request, forexample, that the user respond with a time frame for when the call backby the call center could occur.

In operation 1006, the response SMS message is sent by the user to thecall center 470 indicating the requested time for a call back. Theresponse SMS message could also indicate, for example, a particularnumber to call for receiving the call back. Finally, in operation 1007,the voice call back occurs as requested in the response SMS message.

The process flow for the call center processing is shown in FIG. 11 andis similar to FIG. 9. However, for this process 1100, in operation 1110the call center 470 may determine the existence of a condition thatprecludes an immediate call back, such as the unavailability of anagent. This may trigger the call center 470 to return the SMS message inoperation 1115 to schedule a call back time. In operation 1120, theresponse SMS message is received and used to update the call back queuein operation 925. The other operations are the same as discussed forFIG. 9.

Relationship of Entities Involved in Integrating a QR Code or EmbeddedLink with a Call Center

The integration of QR codes 510 with a call center 470 may involve anadvertising campaign coordinated with a call campaign using QR codes510. This may involve the various entities discussed above operating ina coordinated manner, including, for example: a call center 470, awireless service provider, an advertising/marketing agency, and aprovider of goods or services.

FIG. 12 illustrates one potential arrangement of relationships 1200between these entities for conducting a campaign involving QR codes 510.Turning to FIG. 12, the smart phone 110 c is shown reading a QR code 510that is on an advertising medium 505. For purposes of illustration, theadvertising medium 505 may be a magazine produced by a publisher 1250 ofprinted materials. In other embodiments, the advertising medium 505 maybe a billboard, and a billboard operator may be involved. In anotherembodiment, the advertising medium 505 may be a direct mail piece, and adirect mail marketing entity may be involved.

The publisher 1250 places an advertisement by selling a service to anadvertising/marketing agency 1240 that designs the advertisementcampaign. The advertising/marketing agency 1240 may place a number ofvarious types of advertisements using a number of publishers, directmail marketing entity, etc. Typically, the advertising/marketing agency1240 will purchase a defined amount of ad space, and hence a payment ismade to the publisher 1250 for running the advertisement with the QRcode 510.

The advertising/marketing agency 1240 may be hired by a provider ofgoods/services (“Provider”) 1230 to define and execute the advertisementcampaign. The Provider 1230 may be a local business franchise to anational manufacturer or service provider. Typically, the Provider 1230pays the advertising/marketing agency 1240 to execute the advertisingcampaign.

The Provider 1230 may coordinate a call campaign with a call center 470.In some embodiments, the advertising/marketing agency 1240 may do thison behalf of the Provider 1230. The call center 470 prepares to handlethe communication and respond according to a defined manner—hence thecall center 470 must implement a call campaign. Up to this point, theterm “campaign” without any further qualification could refer to anadvertising campaign or a call campaign. In the context of FIG. 12, theactions performed by the call center 470 are distinct from the actionsperformed by the advertising/marketing agency 1240. It is evident thatthere must be coordination between the various entities. For example,the destination telephone number indicated in a QR code 510 foraddressing the communication from a smart phone 110 c to a call center470 must route the communication to the call center 470, and furtherthis value may be required by the call center 470 to be associated witha particular calling campaign.

The call center 470 may, in some embodiments, have an arrangement whereit reimburses the wireless service provider 112 for a SMS message 1205sent from the smart phone 110 c to the call center 470. This third partybilling arrangement for SMS messages (or other electronic datacommunications) associated with the QR code 410 may exist as anincentive for the user to read the QR code 410. The call center 470 mayrecord each of the SMS messages received. In another embodiment, thewireless service provider 1210 may also record the SMS message 1205 sentto the call center 470. This allows the call center 470 to effectivelypay for the electronic communication, and a subsequent settling ofaccounts may occur between the call center 470 and the Provider 1230. Inother embodiments, the advertising/marketing agency 1240 or the Provider1230 may pay the wireless service provider 112.

The SMS message 1205 may be delivered instead to another entity, whichis then forwarded to the call center 470. For example, the Provider 1230may initially receive the electronic communication and forward a copy tothe call center 470. Those skilled in the art will recognize variousother arrangements and configurations are possible.

The SMS messages received at the call center 470 may be stored in wholeor in part in the contact information database 725 of FIG. 7A, forexample. If the destination address is used to identify the callingcampaign, then a report from the contact information database 725 can begenerated for all received SMS messages for a particular campaign. Thenumber of messages received can be the basis for the call center 470 toreimburse the wireless service provider 112. For example, since thewireless service provider 112 may not bill the originating users fortransfer of the SMS messages, the call center 470 could pay the wirelessservice provider 112 based on the number of received SMS messages. Thecall center 470 may further have to pay for any response SMS messagessent to users by the call center 470. Other billing arrangements arepossible.

In other embodiments, the functions of one of the entities identifiedabove may be merged, integrated, performed, or subsumed by anotherentity. For example, a call center 470 could perform the functions of anadvertising/marketing agency 1240 and coordinate for the publication ofthe advertisement. In other embodiments, the call center 470 may beinternal to, or controlled by, the Provider 1230. In other embodiments,the call center 470 may be integrated with the wireless service provider112, which may occur if the wireless service provider is contacting itsown subscribers for promotions, etc.

The call center 470 may incorporate an electronic consent database basedon the electronic communication received from the user. Thus, thearchitecture, concepts and technologies disclosed in thepreviously-mentioned patent applications may be incorporated in the callcenter 470.

In similar fashion, the integration of embedded links 610 in electronicreading material with a call center 470 may also involve an advertisingcampaign coordinated with a call campaign with the various entitiesdiscussed above operating in a coordinated manner, including, forexample: the call center 470, the wireless service provider 112, theadvertising/marketing agency 1240, and the Provider 1230. However, inthis instance, the call campaign uses links 610 in place of the QR codes510 and the campaigns involve a publisher of electronic reading material490 (instead of, or in addition to, a publisher 1250 of printedmaterials) operating in a coordinated manner with the other entities.

FIG. 13 illustrates one potential arrangement of relationships 1300between these entities for conducting a campaign involving embeddedlinks 610. Turning to FIG. 13, the subscriber activates a link 610embedded in an advertisement 601 in electronic reading materialdisplayed on a device 220 which can be an e-reader or tablet. Forpurposes of illustration, the electronic reading material may be anissue of a periodical, such as a magazine, subscribed to by thesubscriber through the publisher of electronic reading materials 1390.Activation of the link 610 typically results in a communication 1340being sent to the publisher 1390, for example, over an Internet channeland/or cellular channel. As a result, the publisher 1390 sends acommunication 1380 to the call center 470 providing contact and/orcampaign information and the call center 470 acts accordingly. Inaddition, in particular embodiments, the publisher 1390 sends acommunication 1370 to the Provider 1230 that includes information on thesubscriber that has activated the link 610.

Similar to a publisher of printed materials 1250, the publisher ofelectronic reading materials 1390 places the advertisement 601 inelectronic reading material by selling a service to theadvertising/marketing agency 1240 that designs the advertisementcampaign. Typically, the advertising/marketing agency 1240 will providethe ad campaign design 1360 to the publisher 1390, and hence a paymentis made to the publisher 1390 for placing the advertisement 601 with theembedded link 610 in the issue of the periodical.

Similar to before, the advertising/marketing agency 1240 may be hired bythe Provider 1230 to define and execute the advertisement campaign andthe Provider 1230 pays the advertising/marketing agency 1240 to executethe advertising campaign. Likewise, the Provider 1230 may coordinate acall campaign with a call center 470 or the advertising/marketing agency1240 or publisher 1390 may do this on behalf of the Provider 1230.However, in this instance, the call center 470 may not only need toprepare to handle communications associated with the call campaign andrespond according in a defined manner, but the publisher 1390 may alsoneed to prepare to handle communications received as a result ofembedded links 610 being activated and communications sent to the callcenter 470 associated with the call campaign. Thus, in many instancesinvolving embedded links 610, coordination must generally exist betweenthe publisher 1390 and the call center 470.

Further, in particular embodiments, an arrangement may be set up in asimilar fashion as with respect to communications involving QR codes 510for the publisher 1390 to pay the wireless service provider 112 for anyresponse messages sent to subscribers by the call center 470 (e.g., callback communications 1350). In addition, an arrangement may be set up forthe publisher 1390 to pay the wireless service provider 112 for messagessent from a subscriber's device 220 over a channel provided by thewireless service provider 112 if such a channel is used. However, otherbilling arrangements are possible in which, for example, the Provider1230 and/or call center 470 provides payment for such communicationshandled by the wireless service provider 112. In addition, in certainembodiments, arrangements may be made for the publisher 1390 to bereimbursed by the Provider 1230 for payments made to the wirelessservice provider 112.

In other embodiments, the functions of one of the entities identifiedabove may be merged, integrated, performed, or subsumed by anotherentity. For example, a call center 470 and/or publisher 1390 couldperform the functions of the advertising/marketing agency 1240 andcoordinate for the publication of the advertisement. In otherembodiments, the call center 470 may be internal to, or controlled by,the Provider 1230. In other embodiments, the call center 470 may beintegrated with the wireless service provider 112, which may occur ifthe wireless service provider is contacting its own subscribers forpromotions, etc.

Exemplary Processing Device Architecture

As discussed in conjunction with FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the call centerarchitecture 100 may comprise various components, such as servers, frontend, databases, that comprise a processing system. FIG. 14 is anexemplary schematic diagram of a computer processing device that may beused in an embodiment of the call center architecture to practice thetechnologies disclosed herein. FIG. 14 provides an exemplary schematicof a processing device system 1400, which could represent individuallyor in combination, for example, the ACD 130, CTI server 145, dialer 150,publisher server 205, data store 215, or other component previouslydescribed. In general, the term “processing system” may be exemplifiedby, for example, but without limitation: a personal computer, server,desktop computer, tablets, smart phones, notebooks, laptops, distributedsystems, servers, blades, gateways, switches, and the like, as well asany combination of devices or entities adapted to perform the functionsdescribed herein.

As shown in FIG. 14, the processing system 1400 may include one or moreprocessors 1410 that may communicate with other elements within theprocessing system 1400 via a bus 1405. The processor 1410 may beimplemented as one or more complex programmable logic devices (“CPLD”),microprocessors, multi-core processors, digital signal processors(“DSP”), system-on-a-chip (“SOC”), co-processing entities,application-specific integrated circuits (“ASIC”), field programmablegate arrays (“FPGA”), programmable logic arrays (“PLA”), hardwareaccelerators, other circuitry, or the like.

In one embodiment, the processing system 1400 may also include one ormore communications interfaces 1420 for communicating data via the localnetwork 170 with various external devices, such as other components ofFIG. 1. In other embodiments, communication may be via wired, optical,or wireless networks (or a combination thereof). The communication mayuse a variety of data transmission protocols, such as fiber distributeddata interface (FDDI), Ethernet, asynchronous transfer mode (“ATM”), orframe relay.

The input/output controller 1430 may also communicate with one or moreinput devices or peripherals using an interface 1435, such as, but notlimited to: a keyboard, a mouse, a touch screen/display input,microphone, pointing device, etc. The input/output controller 1430 mayalso communicate with output devices or peripherals, such as displays,printers, speakers, headsets, banner displays, etc.

The processor 1410 may be configured to execute instructions stored involatile memory 1440, non-volatile memory 1450, or other forms ofcomputer readable storage media accessible to the processor 1410. Thevolatile memory may comprise various types of memory technologies,including, but not limited to: random access memory (“RAM”), dynamicrandom access memory (“DRAM”), static random access memory (“SRAM”), andother forms well known to those skilled in the art. The non-volatilememory may comprise various technologies, including, but not limited to:storage media such as hard disks, floppy disks, read only memory(“ROM”), programmable read only memory (“PROM”), electrically erasableread only memory (“EPROM”), flash memory, and other forms well known tothose skilled in the art.

The non-volatile memory 1450 may store program code and data, which alsomay be loaded into the volatile memory 1440 at execution time.Specifically, the non-volatile memory 1450 may store one or more messageprocessing program modules 1453 and/or operating system code 1452containing instructions for performing the process and/or functionsassociated with the technologies disclosed herein. The messageprocessing program module 1453 may also access, generate, or store data1455, such as the aforementioned records and data, in the non-volatilememory 1450, as well as in the volatile memory 1440. The volatile memoryand/or non-volatile memory may be used to store other informationincluding, but not limited to: records, applications, programs, scripts,source code, object code, byte code, compiled code, interpreted code,machine code, executable instructions, or the like. These may beexecuted or processed by, for example, processor 1410. These may form apart of, or may interact with, the message processing program module1453.

The technologies described herein may be implemented in various ways,including as computer program products comprising memory storinginstructions causing a processor to perform the operations associatedwith the above technologies. The computer program product may comprise anon-transitory computer readable storage medium storing applications,programs, program modules, scripts, source code, program code, objectcode, byte code, compiled code, interpreted code, machine code,executable instructions, and/or the like (also referred to herein asexecutable instructions, instructions for execution, program code,and/or similar terms). Such non-transitory computer readable storagemedia include all the above identified media (including volatile andnon-volatile media), but does not include a transitory, propagatingsignal. Non-volatile computer readable storage medium may specificallycomprise: a floppy disk, flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape,compact disc read only memory (“CD-ROM”), compact disc compactdisc-rewritable (“CD-RW”), digital versatile disc (“DVD”), Blu-ray™ disc(“BD”), any other non-transitory optical medium, and/or the like.Non-volatile computer readable storage medium may also compriseread-only memory (“ROM”), programmable read-only memory (“PROM”),erasable programmable read-only memory (“EPROM”), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (“EEPROM”), flash memory, and/or othertechnologies known to those skilled in the art.

CONCLUSION

Many modifications and other embodiments of the concepts andtechnologies set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in theart having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoingdescriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to beunderstood that embodiments other than the embodiments disclosed hereinare intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.Although specific terms may be employed herein, they are used in ageneric and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A call center system comprising: a dialerconfigured to originate voice calls and comprising a processorconfigured to receive a message as a result of a mobile device operatedby a user reading a two-dimensional barcode (“2D barcode”) provided onan advertisement, wherein the 2D barcode is encoded to causetransmission of the message, the message requesting a subsequentcommunication comprising a voice call associated with the advertisement,and wherein the processor is configured to: select an available agentfrom among a plurality of agents for handling the voice call to the userof the mobile device, cause the dialer to originate the voice call asthe subsequent communication to the mobile device, and connect the voicecall to a phone being used by the available agent.
 2. The call centersystem of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to send aresponse message prompting the user to indicate a time for the voicecall.
 3. The call center system of claim 2, wherein the response messagerecommends one or more times for the voice call.
 4. The call centersystem of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:update a queue associated with the voice call so that the voice call hasa higher priority relative to at least one other voice call in thequeue.
 5. The call center system of claim 1, wherein the processor isconfigured to cause the dialer to originate the voice call as thesubsequent communication to the mobile device using an originatingnumber associated with the message.
 6. The call center system of claim1, wherein the processor is further configured to determine a callingcampaign based on content in the message, and the plurality of agentsare assigned to the calling campaign.
 7. A non-transitory,computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions storedthereon, the computer-executable instructions, when executed by aprocessor in a dialer of a call center configured to originate voicecalls, cause the processor to: receive a message as a result of a mobiledevice operated by a user reading a two-dimensional barcode (“2Dbarcode”) provided on an advertisement, wherein the 2D barcode isencoded to cause transmission of the message, the message requesting asubsequent communication comprising a voice call associated with theadvertisement; select an available agent from among a plurality ofagents for handling the voice call as the subsequent communication tothe user of the mobile device; and cause the dialer to originate thevoice call, wherein the voice call is connected to a phone used by theavailable agent.
 8. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium ofclaim 7, wherein the computer-executable instructions when executedfurther cause the processor to send a response message prompting theuser to select a time for the voice call prior to the dialer originatingthe voice call.
 9. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim7, wherein the computer-executable instructions when executed furthercause the processor to send a response message to the mobile device forprompting the user to select a time for a subsequent voice call inresponse to the user not answering the voice call.
 10. Thenon-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein thecomputer-executable instructions when executed further cause theprocessor to store a copy of the message as consent for receiving thevoice call.
 11. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 7,wherein the computer-executable instructions when executed further causethe processor to transmit a response message to the mobile deviceacknowledging receipt of the message.
 12. The non-transitory,computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the mobile device sends anSMS message received at a gateway and transformed into an email messagethat is sent from the gateway as the message.
 13. A computer-implementedmethod for integrating use of a two-dimensional barcode (“2D barcode”)with a call center comprising a dialer configured to originate voicecalls, the method comprising: receiving a message at the dialer as aresult of a mobile device operated by a user reading the 2D barcodeprovided on an advertisement, wherein the 2D barcode is encoded to causetransmission of the message, the message requesting a subsequentcommunication comprising a voice call associated with the advertisement;selecting an available agent from among a plurality of agents in thecall center to handle the subsequent communication to the user of themobile device; originating the voice call to the user by the dialer inthe call center as the subsequent communication; and connecting thevoice call to a phone being used by the available agent.
 14. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein the message is a textmessage.
 15. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 furthercomprising sending a response message to the user by the call centerthat prompts the user to select a time for the subsequent communication.16. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 further comprising:storing a copy of the message as consent for receiving the subsequentcommunication.
 17. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, whereina wireless service provider transmits the message to the call center andis compensated monetarily for transmission of the message by an entityother than the user.
 18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17,wherein the entity compensating the wireless service provider is thecall center.
 19. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, whereinthe message is sent from a gateway as an email message to the callcenter.
 20. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, furthercomprising: transmitting a response message to the mobile device fromthe call center acknowledging receipt of the message.
 21. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 13 further comprising placing arequest with a higher priority relative to at least one other request ina call back queue of the dialer to originate the subsequentcommunication.
 22. The computer-implemented method of claim 13, whereinthe mobile device sends an SMS message received at a gateway andtransformed into an email message that is sent from the gateway to thecall center as the message.